What is Oklahoma like? (Howe, Nash: nightclubs, association, farm)

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I, too, lived in San Diego - for about 25 years. i have since moved to Utah and am now looking at relocating to OK. San Diego has changed over time from a laid back town to a huge city and in the process has lost that which originally made it special. San Diego State is HUGE and all of my friends who attended (I went to UCSD) said they felt more like a number than a student. A small city in OK and the seventh largest city in the US are really two different animals. What I have learned in living in a small town in southern Utah is that what a small town may lack in size and scope, it more than makes up in kind neighbors and beautiful scenery. Good luck to you in whichever city you choose to relocate.

Brad

Okies are among the friendliest bunch you'll find anywhere. Case in point; I am working on purchasing a travel trailer to live in because we have to sell our house.

More than a couple of people have offered to let me park my travel trailer on their property, some of them sight unseen.

Some of these people are not even from Oklahoma, but they have the Oklahoma spirit inside. Truly GREAT people, and you know who you are folks.

I, too, lived in San Diego - for about 25 years. i have since moved to Utah and am now looking at relocating to OK. San Diego has changed over time from a laid back town to a huge city and in the process has lost that which originally made it special. San Diego State is HUGE and all of my friends who attended (I went to UCSD) said they felt more like a number than a student. A small city in OK and the seventh largest city in the US are really two different animals. What I have learned in living in a small town in southern Utah is that what a small town may lack in size and scope, it more than makes up in kind neighbors and beautiful scenery. Good luck to you in whichever city you choose to relocate.

Brad

I remember when San Diego was a Sailors town, now it'sjust a tourist attraction.

First of all Stillwater is not OKC. it's in the middle of nowhere and there is nothing to do in that town. Most OSU students are heavily involved with the Greek life and house parties because there are no drivable cities near them unless you consider 90 minute drives as being close. Seriously, OSU people are always talking up Eskimo Joes as if its something cool and its nothing but a sports bar that sells t-shirts.

Second, Oklahoma is most definitely not a midwestern state. It has all the traits associated with the south. It's a Bible Belt state with a heavy southern Baptist congregation. Oral Roberts University is located in Tulsa. The Cowboy hall of fame is located in OKC and the state has a strong cowboy and western heritage much like Texas. It is very Republican and McCain won by over a 30 margin of victory. Again, Republican and conservative politics is very southern and Oklahoma has plenty of this. In addition, Oklahoma has a history of race relation problems. The Tulsa riots occurred less than a 100 years ago in which an affluent African American sector of Tulsa was burned down by the public. In addition, people have clear twangs to their accent and it's easily distinguishable from someone who lives in Kansas just north of Oklahoma. Several country music stars also hail from Oklahoma including Garth Brooks, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, Toby Keith and Vince Gill which also supports the idea that it is southern state. And in terms of food: Chicken Fried Steak (it's delicious btw).. please that is sooo not Midwestern. In Oklahoma, almost every breakfast place has buttermilk biscuits with white gravy. White gravy is very southern. Also fried okra is plentiful there in addition to chicken fried steak and did I forget BBQ? All of that is southern

In regards to the people, I think Oklahomans are extremely friendly, genuine and trustworthy. They are extremely generous and they are known to go out of their way to help you. They are solid people and I felt safe around them. However, they are also extremely ignorant and lack exposure to many things we take for granted. Many of them have not traveled extensively or interacted with people of other races or religions and thus you will also hear many ignorant comments that would be interpreted as being racist or non-PC in other parts of the country. I didn't sense a lot of racism as much I sensed a lot of bigotry. With their Baptist background, many Oklahomans were openly bigoted toward homosexuals to the point that there was no shame in calling them fa$#% or openly joking about them. They were also this way toward Muslims and I always heard jokes about the Koran or how Islam was evil. The only time I saw Oklahomans act racist was in regards to interracial relationships. They were no comfortable with Blacks and whites dating.

Oklahoma State University: It's a jock school like Oklahoma. However, OU is where the rich kids and the "city" kids go to school and OSU is where the farm boys and small town kids go. It's historically been that way although there are exceptions. OSU used to be called Oklahoma AM and thus you will hear OU fans call OSU students Aggies and OSU students refer to themselves as Aggies because it used to be the agricultural school. OSU has some strengths over OSU namely their Engineering and Computer science program. Oklahoma has strengths in terms of athletics, medicine and business. Most of your classmates will be from OKC and Tulsa but a large portion will also be from small towns whereas OU is pretty much entirely OKC and Tulsa metro in addition to Texas students. You will have to join a fraternity if you want any semblance of a social life there. In the south, Greek life is huge and your value and status is often determined by which fraternity you join. At San Diego State, it won't matter if you join a frat because although they have them, on the west coast, fraternities and Greek life are just an adjunct but don't define your status. Big Jock School Big Frat School...

Entertainment-wise, going to the lakes was a lot of fun. There are lot of lakes there and if you enjoy boating, fishing, tubing, skiing, wakeboarding...a lot of that is there. Downtown OKC has a lot to offer as well but it's still not real nightlife like you would experience in a real city but OKC is making progress.

Dating: since you are a young college aged person, I'm assuming girls is important to you. However, this is the real drawback to Oklahoma. It's not that Oklahoma girls are not pretty. They are but the problem is there is no sense of dating. If you attend OSU, you will discover that a lot of girls are already in relationships and their boyfriends attend the same school or go to one of the other colleges that are closeby. Furthermore, with the conservative Baptist attitude, girls are not as loose as ones you will find in larger cities. There is no sleeping together on the 4th date type of thing here. You have to date these girls for at least 6 months before you can consider such an option. Different mindset and different rules. This is why a lot of people are in long term relationships. On the west coast, having sex, dating etc is not a big deal nor is it seen as being taboo, it's the norm. You just don't have that single life culture in Oklahoma. Everyone seems to be in a relationship there and it's really irritating to go to a bar and find a group of girls all having husbands and they are only 21. And as mentioned previously, you have to join a fraternity if you want to meet girls at a big southern school like OSU. It's a just prerequisite there.

The bottomline: I enjoyed my short time in Oklahoma but I was so ready to leave when it was time to go. And no, there is no way you could convince me to choose Stillwater over San Diego. I think you could have a great time there but just know what you are getting yourself into. Just treat it as if you are living in a different country because that is essentially what Oklahoma is like.

You are wrong about Stillwater. Plain and simple. First of all, it's not 90 minutes to OKC or Tulsa. OSU students are NOT heavily involved in Greek life, comparatively. I have never been remotely interested in a sorority life and I have a lot of friends (what can I say? ;-)) who haven't either. Most people in Stillwater don't talk up Joes. It's people from out of town that talk up Joes.

Your comment about country music stars being "southern" is funny. I thought it was called country WESTERN music.

I date a lot. I don't have a boyfriend. I don't date frat guys. I don't sleep around. Apparently that's a bad thing for you. I'm not at all surprised to see that you didn't have much luck getting a lady into the sack...

You are wrong about Stillwater. Plain and simple. First of all, it's not 90 minutes to OKC or Tulsa. OSU students are NOT heavily involved in Greek life, comparatively. I have never been remotely interested in a sorority life and I have a lot of friends (what can I say? ;-)) who haven't either. Most people in Stillwater don't talk up Joes. It's people from out of town that talk up Joes.

Your comment about country music stars being "southern" is funny. I thought it was called country WESTERN music.

I date a lot. I don't have a boyfriend. I don't date frat guys. I don't sleep around. Apparently that's a bad thing for you. I'm not at all surprised to see that you didn't have much luck getting a lady into the sack...

Good post Heather. Couldn't rep you. I will have to rep someone else for your good deed. I also had friends go to OSU who had NOTHING to do with greek snobbery.

Quote:

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

The bottomline: I enjoyed my short time in Oklahoma but I was so ready to leave when it was time to go.
Just treat it as if you are living in a different country because that is essentially what Oklahoma is like.

The bottom line is YOU weren't happy here, so your post reflects that. Which is cool. But don't use the most overused line from all the CDF forums ..."there is nothing to do in <fill in the blank> ...reminds me of something a teenager says when they can't find the remote.

DOH! Oh wait a minute, that's me.

Anyways, I am glad you found a better life than the one you found in OSU. BTW, you're supposed to move away from the college scene when you graduate. That's what people do unless you want to be a professional student.

Your just asking one of us old folks to go into lecture mode on "why when we were young we always found something to do,... like ..."

You are wrong about Stillwater. Plain and simple. First of all, it's not 90 minutes to OKC or Tulsa. OSU students are NOT heavily involved in Greek life, comparatively. I have never been remotely interested in a sorority life and I have a lot of friends (what can I say? ;-)) who haven't either. Most people in Stillwater don't talk up Joes. It's people from out of town that talk up Joes.

Your comment about country music stars being "southern" is funny. I thought it was called country WESTERN music.

I date a lot. I don't have a boyfriend. I don't date frat guys. I don't sleep around. Apparently that's a bad thing for you. I'm not at all surprised to see that you didn't have much luck getting a lady into the sack...

Yes, we are like a different country. Thank God.

Sounds about like the first university I went to. There was a very small, very self-important Greek presence, but as far as they were concerned, the rest of us were GDI's and didn't exist. The one and only time I actually dated a Greek, it was at another school and was a major disaster. To this day, more than 40 years later, I still get twitchy when I see someone who looks like they were a Greek jock - just a knee-jerk reaction.

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